Hoe is psychologische controle van vaders en moeders en het prosociaal gedrag van adolescenten gerelateerd? Is deze relatie verschillend voor jongens en meisjes?

Abstract

Although prosocial behavior seems to act as a protective factor in reducing aggressive and problematic behavior in adolescents, many questions remain about what exactly causes it. The literature suggests that parental psychological control may be related to adolescent prosocial development. The current longitudinal study investigated the relation between parental psychological control and adolescents’ prosocial behavior. In addition, it is investigated whether this relation is moderated by gender. The sample consisted of 497 adolescents (Mage T2=14.03, 56.9% boys), and who (Mage T3=15.03, 56.9% boys) and their fathers (Mage T2=47.68; Mage T3=48.70) and mothers (Mage T2= 45.40; Mage T3=46.40) which all participated in the longitudinal RADAR study (Research on Adolescent Development And Relationships). Adolescents reported on their prosocial behavior and on perceived psychological control from fathers and mothers. The data was analyzed with PROCESS in SPSS. The results showed that there is a significant negative relation between maternal psychological control and adolescents' prosocial behavior. This significant relation was not found for the psychological control performed by fathers. No moderation effect of gender was found in both analysis. The knowledge that mothers can negatively influence the prosocial behavior of adolescents through psychological control can be included in treatment in the professional field. As no significant relation was found for fathers, further research is recommended. Future research should also focus on the role of gender in the relation between psychological control and adolescents’ prosocial behavior in late adolescence.